Gutter tongue is the language that Gully speaks at the beginning of the novel. It is also a new and innovative literary device/techinque that Alfred Bester introduces in this novel. Why is this new language important or noteworthy? (you will need to wait to answer this question until you have read more of the book)
1) Pg. 15 - "What's a matter, me? Help, you god-damn gods! Help, is all." Here the text seems to show how Gully Foyle is an uneducated man, one who doesn't think much and isn't too concerned about what he says or how he says it. Also, he seems to me that he doesn't put much thought towards whether or not what he says is wrong, for example his "blasphemy" by saying "Help, you god-damn gods!" - Christian Graham
Responce: i agree with this but it also could be just a development of the langauge of the future. Yes it does show his lack of concern for gramatically correct things and his enducation is little to none. Since there are many different sections of living space now with the new planets and what not they could all just be use to saying things differently almost like slang to us.-John Benton
Response 2: I agree with both in the sense that he is very uneducated. But I think that Gully also has that sense of scaredness and a sense of urgency to get quick help from the gods. He had no idea what he was saying, yes. But also having nightmares of surviving probably didn't help him and his speech much either which caused for more of crazy talking. - Joel Redfoot
Response 3: I disagree with the statement that Gully is an uneducated man. I think he is very educated. But yet he is uneducated in his speech. That I agree with. But again, I disagree with the statement that he's uneducated because if he could survive in the wrecked ship for that long and continue past survival to the point of saving himself by re-firing the engines for the ship to reach another planet. He had to be very educated in order to refire the ship. -Bobby Yohn
Response to Response 3: I second that- Alex Campbell
Response 4: I also disagree that Gully is an uneducated person. I think he maybe very educated, it may not sound like he is an educated person, but I think he is. I also agree that he must have some education to fix an engine of a ship and have it work. I think the way he talks maybe just the way he was tought how to talk or it might be slang. - Catherine Averill
Response 5: i believe Gully is an educated person, he can teleport whenever he wants. i think that is how they talk between one another, it may seem different to us, but it is the future in the novel.- *Aaron Gromiller*
Response 6: I also believe Gully is a educated person. Even though his speech isnt the best, he made up his own language, and knows how to survive in a ship wreck, and is a better at teleporting then anyone else so far in the book.-Erica Keim
I disagree with erica and everyone else that thinks hes an educated person pure instinct of survival doesnt make you edgucated. i believe hes had mechanics training and that he can read and write but so far in the book hes shown no sign of ever being educated beyond that.
-Alexander Hall
Response 7: I believe that Gully is educated in many things other than his speech. If he werent educated he probably wouldve died in the ship and if he were uneducated he wouldnt have been able to fix the ship Dylan
Response 8: I think in that time period, most people, including Gully, would have been educated. But he probably just chooses to speak that way. No big deal. -Jess Filegar
2) Pg. 22- "You leave me rot like a dog. You leave me die, Vorga ... Vorga T: 1339. No. I get out of here, me. I follow you,Vorga. I find you,Vorga. I pay you back, me. I rot you. I kill you fithly." This quote right here show how bad Gully Foyle's education really is. It is really hard to understand what he is trying to say here because it barely makes sense. - Jess Koch
Response: I agree with this statement, but also disagree. I too think Gully Foyle is uneducated in the sense of the way he speak. He often has trouble putting together sentences. I think he is educated in the sense that he was in the spacecraft and knew well how to operate it. He knew what to do in case of emergency and handles himself well. -Nicole Crossman
Response 2: I agree with Nicole, he is a very tallented man when it comes to the spacecraft, but it just doesn't fit. If he is so un educated in the way he is speaking then how is he so intellegent to know and understand the spacecraft so well? -Alyssa Gallagher-
Response: Agreed as well. I'd like to know ho one can be that socially retarded, and still fend more them selves beautiflly like mr foyle here does. He's like a little kid with words; knows what he wants to say, but not quite keen on how to say it.- Alex Campbell
3.) Pg. 16 "He had been raised in the gutter school of the 25th century and spoke nothing but the gutter tongue." The term gutter tongue to me means that he has a dirty mouth. I don't think its all that bad it's just he doesn't know proper English. I don't think I have proper English either, does that mean I speak the gutter tongue?- Nick Kratzer
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4)Pg. 41 "So that makes you alein-belligerent. When the war startedyou and all the rest was given one month to get out of the Inner Planets and go home. Any which didn't became spies by law." In this quote there is very very little "Gutter Tongue" used. This shows that he was educated, but he just chose not to use it at different times. He has very few grammer mistakes in this entire section of the story. While he is talking to Miss Robin he acted educated in his word usage. *Kayle Giarth*
5) Pg. 21 "Six months already, " he said in his gutter tongue. "Is it now? You listen a me, lousy gods. I talkin' a deal, is all. I look again sweet prayer-men. If it's a ship, I'm yours. You own me. But if it's a gaff, man... if it's no ship.. I unseal right now and blow my guts. We both ballast level, us. Now reach me the sign, yes or no, is all." - I would say that in the book the word gutter tongue means something like uneducated language, or sloppy language. The grammatical errors seem to be very prevalent, but I do not believe Gully Foyle is uneducated. I would say Mr. Gully Foyle is an educated man who lacks motivation. By this I mean he does not care enough to worry about grammatical errors. I also believe he has been on the ship too long all alone. This may also have an effect on his speech. As an example, I have a friend who went to boot camp over the summer, just a couple months at boot camp and his grammar was horrible. Also, he wasn't even alone. He was with many others, and yet his grammar still suffered. So we must take into consideration Gully Foyle's situation, and how it may contribute to his so-called "gutter tongue". - Danielle Heininger
6) Pg. 31 "Got to get out of here, girl, Got business with a ship called Vorga. You dig me girl? Going to ram out in this boat, is all." I think the reason for Gully Foyle's gutter tongue is because of not caring to do anything. I think that he seemed that he doesn't really need to know how to speak proper Enlgish because it'll do no good for him to survive. -Victor Lemus
7) Pg 76 "I am talking sense, me. What's the use of the strongest chisel in the world if it doesn't have an edge? We've got to sharpen your wits, Gully. Got to educate you, man is all. Dylan
8) pg. 77 "No. You'll see when we meet, us. That's wrong, isn't it, Jiz? Just plain: 'When we meet.' Period." This shows now that he has been out of the Nomad and he is talking to people, he is understanding the right way to speak to others. Even though he is traped in the hospital he is lucky to get help form Jiz to teach him how to talk.- Catherine Averill
Response: I agree. It shows that Gully is making an effort to speak as an educated person, rather than relying on gutter tongue.
-Jess Filegar
9. pg.78 where Dagenham comes to visit Gully. During their conversation Dagenham says "Your repatee's improved; your speech too. You've changed." This quote show that they teaching that Jizbella is doing with Gully is truley working, because not only has Jiz noticed but so has Dagenham. -Chanelle Meadows
10.Response: i agree. Jiz is really helped Gully with his speech, and i also think that she has helped him in many other ways other than the speech and his face.-Erica Keim
11. Gutter tongue is important because it shows the progression of Gully from beginning to end. -Justin Campbell
12. Towards the end of the book I was able to see that Gully is becoming himself again by using his gutter tongue, but he also speaks the way Jiz tought him. So I do agree that Gutter tongue is very important because the reader can see what Gully was and what he has become.- Catherine Averill
Pg. 253 "PyrE! You hear me, man? You listen a me, you. Grab no guesses, you. Make 'em tell you about PyrE, is all!" this shows how Gully can still speak how he used to, and it shows how the rest of the world talks like this, showing that they're barely educated. - Christian Graham
“Take a war to make you spend. Take a jam to make you think. Take a challenge to make you great. Rest of the time you sit around lazy, you. Pigs, you! All right, God damn you! I challenge you, me. Die or live and be great. Blow yourselves to Christ gone or come and find me, Gully Foyle, and I make you men. I make you great. I give you the stars.” - I think that this paragraph shows that Gully has learned a lot about speaking properly throughout the book after he meets Jisbella, but it also shows that he hasn’t lost what he used to be. He still knows how to speak gutter tounge for those others that speak it and don’t know about grammar. – Sasha Cochran
Response - I agree with Sasha's interpretation that Gully has not lost what he originally used to be in the fact that he was amongst the people of the "gutters." This shows that deep down, Gully is someone who molded himself into something else for a cover up, when in actuality, he still had the mind and mouth such as the gutter tongue. -Cullen Schimminger
1) Pg. 15 - "What's a matter, me? Help, you god-damn gods! Help, is all." Here the text seems to show how Gully Foyle is an uneducated man, one who doesn't think much and isn't too concerned about what he says or how he says it. Also, he seems to me that he doesn't put much thought towards whether or not what he says is wrong, for example his "blasphemy" by saying "Help, you god-damn gods!" - Christian Graham
Responce: i agree with this but it also could be just a development of the langauge of the future. Yes it does show his lack of concern for gramatically correct things and his enducation is little to none. Since there are many different sections of living space now with the new planets and what not they could all just be use to saying things differently almost like slang to us.-John Benton
Response 2: I agree with both in the sense that he is very uneducated. But I think that Gully also has that sense of scaredness and a sense of urgency to get quick help from the gods. He had no idea what he was saying, yes. But also having nightmares of surviving probably didn't help him and his speech much either which caused for more of crazy talking. - Joel Redfoot
Response 3: I disagree with the statement that Gully is an uneducated man. I think he is very educated. But yet he is uneducated in his speech. That I agree with. But again, I disagree with the statement that he's uneducated because if he could survive in the wrecked ship for that long and continue past survival to the point of saving himself by re-firing the engines for the ship to reach another planet. He had to be very educated in order to refire the ship. -Bobby Yohn
Response to Response 3: I second that- Alex Campbell
Response 4: I also disagree that Gully is an uneducated person. I think he maybe very educated, it may not sound like he is an educated person, but I think he is. I also agree that he must have some education to fix an engine of a ship and have it work. I think the way he talks maybe just the way he was tought how to talk or it might be slang. - Catherine Averill
Response 5: i believe Gully is an educated person, he can teleport whenever he wants. i think that is how they talk between one another, it may seem different to us, but it is the future in the novel.- *Aaron Gromiller*
Response 6: I also believe Gully is a educated person. Even though his speech isnt the best, he made up his own language, and knows how to survive in a ship wreck, and is a better at teleporting then anyone else so far in the book.-Erica Keim
I disagree with erica and everyone else that thinks hes an educated person pure instinct of survival doesnt make you edgucated. i believe hes had mechanics training and that he can read and write but so far in the book hes shown no sign of ever being educated beyond that.
-Alexander Hall
Response 7: I believe that Gully is educated in many things other than his speech. If he werent educated he probably wouldve died in the ship and if he were uneducated he wouldnt have been able to fix the ship Dylan
Response 8: I think in that time period, most people, including Gully, would have been educated. But he probably just chooses to speak that way. No big deal. -Jess Filegar
2) Pg. 22- "You leave me rot like a dog. You leave me die, Vorga ... Vorga T: 1339. No. I get out of here, me. I follow you,Vorga. I find you,Vorga. I pay you back, me. I rot you. I kill you fithly." This quote right here show how bad Gully Foyle's education really is. It is really hard to understand what he is trying to say here because it barely makes sense. - Jess Koch
Response: I agree with this statement, but also disagree. I too think Gully Foyle is uneducated in the sense of the way he speak. He often has trouble putting together sentences. I think he is educated in the sense that he was in the spacecraft and knew well how to operate it. He knew what to do in case of emergency and handles himself well. -Nicole Crossman
Response 2: I agree with Nicole, he is a very tallented man when it comes to the spacecraft, but it just doesn't fit. If he is so un educated in the way he is speaking then how is he so intellegent to know and understand the spacecraft so well? -Alyssa Gallagher-
Response: Agreed as well. I'd like to know ho one can be that socially retarded, and still fend more them selves beautiflly like mr foyle here does. He's like a little kid with words; knows what he wants to say, but not quite keen on how to say it.- Alex Campbell
3.) Pg. 16 "He had been raised in the gutter school of the 25th century and spoke nothing but the gutter tongue." The term gutter tongue to me means that he has a dirty mouth. I don't think its all that bad it's just he doesn't know proper English. I don't think I have proper English either, does that mean I speak the gutter tongue?- Nick Kratzer
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4)Pg. 41 "So that makes you alein-belligerent. When the war startedyou and all the rest was given one month to get out of the Inner Planets and go home. Any which didn't became spies by law." In this quote there is very very little "Gutter Tongue" used. This shows that he was educated, but he just chose not to use it at different times. He has very few grammer mistakes in this entire section of the story. While he is talking to Miss Robin he acted educated in his word usage. *Kayle Giarth*
5) Pg. 21 "Six months already, " he said in his gutter tongue. "Is it now? You listen a me, lousy gods. I talkin' a deal, is all. I look again sweet prayer-men. If it's a ship, I'm yours. You own me. But if it's a gaff, man... if it's no ship.. I unseal right now and blow my guts. We both ballast level, us. Now reach me the sign, yes or no, is all." - I would say that in the book the word gutter tongue means something like uneducated language, or sloppy language. The grammatical errors seem to be very prevalent, but I do not believe Gully Foyle is uneducated. I would say Mr. Gully Foyle is an educated man who lacks motivation. By this I mean he does not care enough to worry about grammatical errors. I also believe he has been on the ship too long all alone. This may also have an effect on his speech. As an example, I have a friend who went to boot camp over the summer, just a couple months at boot camp and his grammar was horrible. Also, he wasn't even alone. He was with many others, and yet his grammar still suffered. So we must take into consideration Gully Foyle's situation, and how it may contribute to his so-called "gutter tongue". - Danielle Heininger
6) Pg. 31 "Got to get out of here, girl, Got business with a ship called Vorga. You dig me girl? Going to ram out in this boat, is all." I think the reason for Gully Foyle's gutter tongue is because of not caring to do anything. I think that he seemed that he doesn't really need to know how to speak proper Enlgish because it'll do no good for him to survive. -Victor Lemus
7) Pg 76 "I am talking sense, me. What's the use of the strongest chisel in the world if it doesn't have an edge? We've got to sharpen your wits, Gully. Got to educate you, man is all. Dylan
8) pg. 77 "No. You'll see when we meet, us. That's wrong, isn't it, Jiz? Just plain: 'When we meet.' Period." This shows now that he has been out of the Nomad and he is talking to people, he is understanding the right way to speak to others. Even though he is traped in the hospital he is lucky to get help form Jiz to teach him how to talk.- Catherine Averill
Response: I agree. It shows that Gully is making an effort to speak as an educated person, rather than relying on gutter tongue.
-Jess Filegar
9. pg.78 where Dagenham comes to visit Gully. During their conversation Dagenham says "Your repatee's improved; your speech too. You've changed." This quote show that they teaching that Jizbella is doing with Gully is truley working, because not only has Jiz noticed but so has Dagenham. -Chanelle Meadows
10.Response: i agree. Jiz is really helped Gully with his speech, and i also think that she has helped him in many other ways other than the speech and his face.-Erica Keim
11. Gutter tongue is important because it shows the progression of Gully from beginning to end. -Justin Campbell
12. Towards the end of the book I was able to see that Gully is becoming himself again by using his gutter tongue, but he also speaks the way Jiz tought him. So I do agree that Gutter tongue is very important because the reader can see what Gully was and what he has become.- Catherine Averill
Pg. 253 "PyrE! You hear me, man? You listen a me, you. Grab no guesses, you. Make 'em tell you about PyrE, is all!" this shows how Gully can still speak how he used to, and it shows how the rest of the world talks like this, showing that they're barely educated. - Christian Graham
“Take a war to make you spend. Take a jam to make you think. Take a challenge to make you great. Rest of the time you sit around lazy, you. Pigs, you! All right, God damn you! I challenge you, me. Die or live and be great. Blow yourselves to Christ gone or come and find me, Gully Foyle, and I make you men. I make you great. I give you the stars.” - I think that this paragraph shows that Gully has learned a lot about speaking properly throughout the book after he meets Jisbella, but it also shows that he hasn’t lost what he used to be. He still knows how to speak gutter tounge for those others that speak it and don’t know about grammar. – Sasha Cochran
Response - I agree with Sasha's interpretation that Gully has not lost what he originally used to be in the fact that he was amongst the people of the "gutters." This shows that deep down, Gully is someone who molded himself into something else for a cover up, when in actuality, he still had the mind and mouth such as the gutter tongue. -Cullen Schimminger